Cat Hissing and Two Sweet’in!: The Mixed Match Challenge – Part 1

Well, this is novel! When they first announced this was gonna happen, I wasn’t sure what to think. Are they going to create this novelty under the guise of engaging on social media? Will they give this some substance? Then, the Twitter vids started showing up. All of them have been so much fun – especially the ones with Titus Worldwide and Nia Jax. I have to say that the Twitter vignettes with all of these teams have been EPIC. My personal favorite was The New Day with Carmella sitting in a dryer holding an “L”. I am DEAD!!! I can’t wait to see them work together. At that point, I stopped caring. Entertainment is entertainment after all.

As for the show itself, it’s being hosted by the criminally-underused Renee Young and the much-improved Byron Saxton. For commentary, we got Michael Cole, Corey Graves, and…Beth Phoenix. Beth did a serviceable job and hopefully, she’ll get better as time goes on. Let’s get to the match, shall we?

Shinsuke Nakamura and Natalya vs. Finn Balor & Sasha Banks

This should have, for all intents and purposes, been a novelty match. Good thing no one told any of the four competitors. It was definitely more fun than your average match but it was also full of great ring work. Everyone was on and they told a very nice story. In particular, Natalya’s trash talk really made this fun. I loved watching her apply the abdominal stretch on Sasha and politely grinning while she did it. Sasha even got a “too sweet” in with Finn which was fun. This finished with Sasha’s Bank Statement. Very good work from four very good competitors and both teams have real chemistry. Not bad for a “feud” that was built largely on Facebook and Twitter.

I really like that they’re keeping these short too. They entertain quickly and then it’s over. It only makes me want to see what’s coming next. In short, this was actually far more substantial than I thought it’d be and I can’t wait to see what happens next week.